12 Stories Til Christmas
by Mysia Ri
Summary: 12 short stories inspired by Christmas Songs. May contain random pairings and silliness. Had to cut it down to *12* stories because of work. Sorry!
1. Puppy It's Cold Outside

AN: Ok so because I get bored at work and I apparently don't have enough to do (*cough not true cough cough*) I came up with this idea. Mostly because being bored at work and listening to Christmas music all day will do this.

But to make it more interesting, I've decided to make it a game.

I plan to write 24 short stories by Christmas that are themed on Christmas music. You'll get the idea when you read this one. But instead of me making all of the decisions, I'll let the reviewers in on the fun too.

So if you can name the song that inspired/was used in the story, review and tell me the title of the song (don't worry about who sang it cause there are a million versions of every song, so just a title will do). Then you make a suggestion for what you'd like to see happen in one of these stories. It could be a scene, a Christmas/winter song, a pairing (straight, gay, more than one, whatever), it could be Hanukkah related, anything so long as it's in the season. I'll pick from the ones that guess right.

Can't promise that I'll use all the ideas, but I do also have _Hooray For One Shots_ that I could stick some in. Or I could write more. (Though I do plan to finish _Hikari to Yami no Enishi_ by Christmas. We'll see how that goes..."

But anyway, this first one was because this song seemed an obvious choice. Originally I was trying to think of a way to make this bronzeshipping, but then I realized it screamed puppyshipping so Seto x Jounouchi it is!

I think it's a pretty obvious use of the song, which I don't own. Nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh. Enjoy!

* * *

Jounouchi tugged on his jacket and tugged on a black knit hat so it covered his ears. The others had long left the Kaiba mansion after the small party Seto and Mokuba had hosted. The blond had stayed longer only at Mokuba's request to play just "one" more round of Zombie Apocalypse. Now it was nearly midnight and Seto had carried his half-asleep siblings upstairs to bed.

Taking the moment to vacate before he was forced to face the CEO alone, Jounouchi was stepping into his shoes and reaching for the door when the man reappeared beside him, his white trench coat draped over one arm and the myriad of belts missing. Instead of black boots, he donned a pair of equally black, slightly fuzzy slippers. Blue eyes stopped the blond like a deer in head lights and he sucked in a breath.

"Th-thanks for havin' me and the guys over, Kaiba," Jounouchi smiled, running the back of his neck sheepishly. "And...sorry for stayin' so late. I'll just see myself out. See ya late-"

"Stay." The word was spoken with a softness the brunette wasn't known for though it was still spoken as a command.

"-er...Ah, no...no I really can't," the blond insisted, backing toward the door. "I've got to go."

"It's cold outside," Seto said, stepping closer. He grabbed his trench coat by the collar and hung it on the wood coat rack by the door, his eyes never leaving Jounouchi's.

"Thanks again, Kaiba. It was really nice hangin' out here tonight," The blond said, reaching behind him for the door knob. Seto intercepted his hand and held it between both of his.

"Your hands are cold as ice, mutt," the CEO stated, bringing the trapped hand close to his mouth and blowing warm air gently over it.

Jounouchi blushed and pulled his hand free, eyes caught in the other's blue gaze. "My dad'll kick my ass if I don't get home soon," he insisted.

"What's the hurry?" Seto asked, taking the blond's elbow and leading/dragging him back to the den.

"No, I'm serious! You don't know my dad!" The blond protested.

"Come sit by the fire and warm up," Seto insisted.

"I really should go!"

"Puppy, just relax," the brunette breathed, taking a glass of champagne that had conveniently been left by the fire place and offering it to the blond. They had all had a small amount of alcohol that evening with dinner so it didn't immediately strike Jounouchi as odd.

"Well...maybe just a half a drink more," the blond muttered, taking the glass and sipping at the amber drink. Seto took another glass and swirled it slightly, still watching Jounouchi closely.

"Why don't you put on some music and have a seat?"

Jounouchi slowly moved toward the sound system, fumbling with the buttons as he looked for a song. "My friends might think..." he glanced back to see the CEO had moved to a large window.

"It's pretty bad out there right now," he said, looking at the snow that had started to fall. Jounouchi felt himself blush as his eyes trailed over Seto's body, clad in a snug black turtle neck and tight black pants. He glanced at the glass in his hand.

'What's in this drink?' he wondered as the CEO came toward him, their eyes meeting once more.

"It's too far for you to walk home in this weather. And you'd never get a cab," Seto stated.

'I wish I knew how to break this spell,' the blond thought, feeling helpless as the brunette reached one hand up to pull his hat off and set it aside. He combed his fingers through Jounouchi's hair and straightened it half heartedly.

'No matter what he does to his hair, it always looks good,' Seto thought, leaning forward slightly.

'I should said no...I should push him away,' Jounouchi told himself, honey brown eyes half closed.

"Do you mind?" Seto breathed when their faces were only inches apart.

'...At least I'll tell the others I tried...' "Kaiba, I really can't stay..." the blond murmured. "But it is pretty cold outside..." Seto smirked, closing the distance between them. The moment hung in the air

Forty-five minutes later, Jounouchi's cell phone buzzed angrily and played a loud tune. The blond gasped, recognizing the ring as the one he'd set for his father and scrambled off the couch, pulling out his shirt before Seto could react.

"Shit, I have to go!"

"Puppy, it's cold outside," Seto tsked, reaching out a hand to try and stop him. They had been laying comfortably on the couch and the CEO had been enjoying the blond's warmth and company.

"No, Kai..Seto, I have to go," the blond insisted, grabbing his jacket and shoes before Seto could pull his own shirt back on. "I really like you and this has been great, but I have to get home now!"

"Look outside, puppy!" Seto insisted, pointing at the window. "It's storming out there!"

Jounouchi pouted, as he made it to the door again, pausing only to pull his shoes on. A strong hand slammed against the door, holding it firmly shut and startling the blond into turning and facing the brunette. He fumbled for other excuses to leave, trying to convince himself to go as much as to get Seto to let him go.

"Shizuka'll think something's up..."

'Your lips look delicious...' Seto thought, fighting the urge to kiss the blond again.

"And...Honda'll be over there lookin' for me...Or Anzu will think somethin's up an'...And tell the others and they'll come over here lookin' for me and see you and..."

Seto leaned forward and captured Jounouchi's lips in another kiss. 'They are delicious,' he thought, wrapping his arms around the blond's waist.

"Maybe...a few more minutes," Jounouchi breathed, moving in for another kiss. All too quickly, his phone rang again and he gasped, trying to push the CEO away. "Shit shit shit, I've got to get home!"

"Puppy, you'll freeze out there!" Seto growled, wishing the blond would stop being so stubborn.

Jounouchi glanced at the coat rack. "Hey, could I borrow your trench coat?"

"Are you crazy? It's up to your knees out there!"

"I've really had fun, Seto," Jounouchi said quickly, reaching to grab the coat from the rack only to have Seto grab his hand.

"Come on Seto! Don't you see!? Everyone'll be talkin' about this tomorrow if I don't go home now! Well...at least they'll imply that we..."

"Think about the stress I'd have if you caught pneumonia and died," Seto chided, cupping Jounouchi's face. He released the blond's hand and took his cell phone from him, turning the sound off and tossing the device aside, confident that he could easily replace it if it broke when it landed.

"I...I really can't stay," Jounouchi whispered in a final attempt to escape.

"But puppy," Seto replied softly, eyes sliding closed as he leaned in for another kiss. "It's cold outside."

* * *

AN: Remember: Guess the song title in the review and then make a suggestion if you want.

If I don't get enough suggestions...well, I'm sure I'll come up with more stuff from the songs at work. :3


	2. Marik Wants A Hippopotamus for Christmas

Song in the last chapter: _Baby It's Cold Outside _

AN: Three reviews and three right answers!

Sunni D. Lockhart: That's a funny coincidence XD Your choice is actually a song I didn't know so I'll have to think on it for a little while to get a good idea :3

Scarpaw: I'm glad you liked it despite it being puppyshipping XD Both song choices are good. Didn't know the first one, but I had been considering the second one.

This one is...well it's random. I wrote it mainly because I was getting tired and knew I wasn't going to finish this chapter of _Hikari to Yami no Enishi_ tonight so I figured I toss this together so I posted something (I meant to have a chapter of HtYnE and _Light Versus Dark_ done, but work kinda wore me out).

I thought the song was too random to not make a story out of it. Sorry if it sucks :p. And the title is probably obvious. But if nothing else, maybe you'll know it or be forced to go look it up and get it stuck in your head too. XD

Enjoy!

* * *

**_3000 years ago in Egypt..._**

"Ah, that's so cool."

"Cool?" Rajan(1) looked at his brother. "It's a hippopotamus. It's not "cool". It's dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Marik blinked and looked at Rajan. "Those guy are plant eaters. Now crocodiles. _Those_ are dangerous." The spiky haired boy looked back out to the Nile, getting to his feet. "Wouldn't it be neat to have one? Like...as a pet?"

"...No. In fact, I really don't feel comfortable being even this close to them," the younger boy sighed. "You said you had something to show me out here. You just wanted to look at the hippopotamuses."

"Not true," Marik shook his head. "I was going to show you this crocodile I saw the other day but he isn't here."

"Why do I follow you around? It's going to get me killed one day..."

"Psh, no way. You're totally safe with me here. Come on, lets go see if he's moved down the river. He had really cool markings!"

* * *

**_3000 years (and a different plot line) later in Japan...  
_**

"Marik, can I see you a moment?"

The young blond stopped and turned to face the woman. She was in her early twenties, fresh out of college and teaching her first kindergarten class. Long, brown hair was pulled back into a pony tail and violet eyes appraised the young boy as he approached.

"Yeah Ms. Nowendo?"

She drew in a breath and moved around her desk, sitting on the floor and clutching a paper in her hand. "Sit down a minute." He did so, amber eyes(2) focused on her attentively. "The assignment in class today was to write down your Christmas list."

"Yeah."

"A lot of your classmates filled up a whole page with toys they wanted from Santa Claus," she continued. She handed the paper to Marik, who took it and gave her a confused look.

"Am I in trouble?" he asked. She smiled and shook her head.

"No, I'm just curious. For example, little Anzu asked for dolls and a play stove. Yugi asked for puzzles and games."

"So?" Marik tilted his head curiously.

"You asked for a hippo."

"Hippopotamus," the boy corrected proudly, pointing at the word. "See, I even asked Atem if I spelled it right and he said I did and since he's the best speller in the class I know it's right."

"Oh, it is, Marik. But I was just wondering..." she thought for a moment. "Well, Santa can't fit a great bit hippopotamus down the chimney, Marik. Even a little baby hippo would be too big."

Marik took this fact into consideration for a second and replied "He doesn't have to. He can leave it at the door." He nodded firmly.

"What would your mother say?" the teacher pressed on.

"Oh I already told her," the boy stated. "She tried to tell me that a hippopotamus would eat me. But you told us that they are ve..vege...that they eat plants. And there's lots of room in our garage for him!" he insisted. "I can keep him in there and feed him and take care of him."

Ms. Nowendo bit her lip slightly before she spoke again. "Marik, hippopotamuses like to live in a lot of water, not in garages. He wouldn't be happy there."

The blond boy pouted at this. "I don't want him to be unhappy," he said. "But I do want a hippopotamus...and dad didn't like it when I got the garage all wet on accident so he'd be really mad if I did it on purpose."

"Well then, you probably shouldn't get a hippopotamus, Marik," the teacher said. She let out a quiet sigh when it seemed the point had gotten across. "Maybe Santa could bring you a stuffed hippo instead," she suggested.

"Maybe...but it wouldn't be the same..." he paused before looking up at her again. "I guess I shouldn't ask for a crocodile or a rhinoceros then either, huh?"

'Oh boy,' she sighed, beginning to explain why live wild animals couldn't be Christmas presents.

* * *

AN: So, is it horribly obvious? Isn't it a silly song? XD

Anywho, I'll be off to bed now and hopefully have HtYnE done before I go to work. Mostly the problem I'm having with the chapter is timing. Since characters are in America, Japan, and another world which I've decided is on Japan's time zone to make things easier in my head.

But I digress as I'm going off on a tangent.

As with last chapter, guess the song title and toss me some suggestions and I will ignore them.

No wait...I won't ignore them. I plan on using them! Two stories down, twenty-two to go!

(1) Rajan is a original character who first appeared in Marik's Background Story (see _Hooray For One Shots_ chapter 22). He's Marik's younger brother by 10 months. There's also Petri, who's roughly a year younger than Rajan (haven't' picked out birthdays for them all yet so sue me. Actually don't, I'm poor D: )

(2) Once again, see the BG story I wrote. I gave him amber colored eyes in the past which became lavender later on. It's just an eye color though :p No pandas were harmed in...

There's that tangent again. I'm going to bed. Good night! :3


	3. Ryou's Christmas

AN: Yes, the last one was "I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas".

The funny thing is this time of year my store sells plastic animals for stocking stuffers. Guess what I saw in the mix? XD Also this year we had a little hippo light up figure thing (those outdoor decorations) wearing a tutu.

This one took me a while to type up because I couldn't decide how to end it. Hope you like it! :D

* * *

"I understand...Yeah...you too, dad. Right. Merry Christmas." Ryou sighed as he turned off the phone and dropped it back into it's cradle. "Merry Christmas..." he muttered, moving to the couch and sinking into it. He let his eyes wander, finally settling his gaze on the vacant corner of the room where the Christmas tree normally stood. This year his father hadn't even given the teen the false hope that he would be home for the holiday so he hadn't even bothered with decorating, let alone acquiring a tree.

He remembered the happier times years ago when he and Amane would help their mother trim the tree and hang the stockings. The scent of Christmas cookies and choosing the best ones to leave out for Santa. Leaving an apple or two for the reindeer(1). How he and Amane would sneak out of their rooms to try and catch a glimpse Santa himself. Naturally they always fell asleep before they saw anything, but it was the anticipation. The magic. The wonder.

Now at eighteen and a senior in high school, Ryou found he felt none of that. Where once there was laughter and music, he now found himself in an empty house with no one to talk to and nothing to celebrate.

"This is my first Christmas entirely alone," he realized, his hand moving to his chest and feeling nothing there. Months had passed since the final Shadow Game. He had been happy enough at the time to finally be free and be himself again. To be just Ryou Bakura. Once the novelty wore off, however, he found himself missing the presence of the spirit of the Millennium Ring. The one who had once long ago been called the Thief King Bakura. Thinking back on their time spent together over the years, he found he actually longed for those days. The days before he had met Yugi and first laid eyes on the Millennium Puzzle. When the spirit invoked Shadow Games to protect Ryou, though the teen would rather he hadn't.

Still, now all Ryou had was an empty house and a hole in his heart. He leaned his head back and sighed, pushing his thoughts of Bakura aside and trying to channel the happy, warm feelings that Christmas once invoked.

"Where are you Christmas?" he asked aloud. In response, the phone rang and Ryou automatically reach out to answer it. "Hello. Bakura residence. Oh, hi Yugi. No, I'm not busy. The park? ..." the teen contemplated the prospect of going out into the cold winter day to see his friends or sit alone him his house. "Alight, sure. I'll be there."

After a quick change of clothes, Ryou headed toward the park, taking in the sight of decorations and the small dusting of snow they had received. He tried again to feel something as he waited for a stop light to change, noting how even the stop lights themselves seemed to be trying to be festive with their red and green lights. Still he felt nothing but chilled and breathed out a puff of silvery mist.

Yugi and his usual entourage greeted him at the entrance to the park and the group of five walked toward the lake, chatting about school and Duel Monsters. The pale teen mostly listened, his thoughts again wandering to the spirit.

'I never called him by his name,' he noted. 'I always called him _voice_ or _spirit_. Would I call him Bakura is I saw him again? Would he let me?' Ryou frowned. 'Why am I thinking like this? Do I really miss him that badly? He made my life miserable, didn't he? I should be happy he's gone...'

Once they arrived at the lake, they went to the small stand that had been set up and rented some ice skates. An hour later, Ryou sat on a bench beside Yugi, the pair watching their friends.

"Anzu's quite good," Ryou commented.

"Yeah...Hey Ryou...Can I talk to you?" Yugi looked up at the other teen.

"Sure, Yugi. What's wrong?"

Yugi sighed and started to take off his ice skates. "I know what we did all those months ago was the right thing..." Ryou winced but nodded, working on removing his own skates. "It's just that...I wonder if...if it would have been selfish of me to...lose."

"You miss Yami, don't you," Ryou said quietly. Yugi nodded, bowing his head.

"I just keep playing it over again and again in my mind. When he left...a part of me left with him, you know? I feel like...like he changed my world. My life. It doesn't feel right not having him here. Especially not now. It's Christmas. I know it is. But I just..."

"It doesn't feel like Christmas. I know..." Ryou put an arm over Yugi's shoulders and sighed.

"...You miss...Yami Bakura?"

"Is that what you called him?" The pale teen chuckled. "I do miss Bakura...Not that I miss him trying to kill you and the others. It's just...since he's been gone, nothing feels right. I thought I would just get used to it. That this feeling would go away."

"It doesn't," Yugi whispered, squeezing his eyes shut. "The others don't get it. They miss Yami...Atem...but they don't _miss_ him."

Ryou smiled and hugged Yugi closer. "I get it, Yugi. We both get it. Thank god you do. I haven't had anyone who I could talk to about Bakura either."

"Yeah..."

Hours passed and the two hikaris felt a bit better, finding comfort in finally having someone who could understand what was wrong. Yugi invited Ryou over to the game shop to have dinner with him and his grandfather. It was nearly ten when he finally departed for home, declining the invitation to stay the night as he didn't wish to ruin their Christmas Eve by having them worry over him. Ryou shivered at the biting cold, keeping his gaze focused on the sidewalk.

'What is Christmas anyway?' he wondered to himself. 'Ever since mom and Amane died, it's just been me...well, the spirit and me. Empty promises that father will come home. I go through all the fuss of decorating, but why?' He sighed, walking up the path to his door. 'Tomorrow will just be another day, only there won't be any place open. And all my friends will be celebrating with their families. I'll spend the day alone reading or playing video games. Maybe I'll watch a movie...'

He fished his house key out of his pocket and pushed it into the lock, twisting it only to find it wouldn't turn. Startled, the teen pulled the key out and examined it before reinserting it into the lock. "What...why isn't it working?" he asked aloud to no one. He turned and looked down the walk, certain that he was in front of the right house. When he turned back to look at the door, he took a startled step back.

"That wreath..." he looked up at the building, back peddling to get a good view of the strings of unlit lights that trimmed the edge of the roof and tangled in the bushes. He was positive that the wreath hadn't been hanging on the door when he had been trying to unlock it. It was comprised of different sized balls in blues and whites with a blue and silver bow tied on top, a pair of bells dangling to hang in the center.

As his mind tried to wrap around the concept that this was somehow his house, he shook his head, baffled. 'I've heard of people teepeeing a house...but decorating it? And changing the locks? It that a Christmas tree?' he wondered, peering at the silhouette in the window. Suddenly all of the lights came on in and out of the house, multicolored lights twinkling in a mesmerizing pattern.

"_Oh there's no place like home for the holidays..._"

Ryou froze, eyes widening as a voice began to sing softly behind him.

"_For no matter how far away you roam..._"

The teen felt tears welling up in his eyes as he recognized the voice.

"_If you want to be happy in a million ways..._"

Spinning around, Ryou saw the source of the singing, his mouth opening and closing a bit as he tried to speak but nothing came out.

"_For the holidays, you can't beat home sweet home._"

"S...Spirit..." Ryou finally managed.

"Call me Bakura," the former spirit smirked at his former host. A pale hand reached up to caress an equally pale cheek as Bakura proved to the teen that he was, in fact, flesh and blood. "I hope you don't mind, but I noticed you didn't decorate this year. I took care of it for you."

Ryou whimpered, tears falling unchecked down his face. He wrapped his arms around Bakura's waist and buried his face against the other's chest.

"Hey, it's Christmas," the thief tsked, his arms wrapping around Ryou's shoulders. "Those better be happy tears."

As the teen nodded, he felt an old, familiar feeling stir in his gut, dusting itself off and glowing brightly to warm him from the inside.

"Now..." he choked a bit, leaning back to look at Bakura, smiling up at him. "Now it feels like Christmas."

"Heh," the thief smirked, wiping Ryou's face and kissing him on the fore head. "Let's get inside. It's bloody freezing out here."

* * *

AN: There you go, my tendershipping fans. :3 Expect another story that shows Yugi's soon.

There's one main theme for this tale, but there's hints of another song. (At least in my head). There's also another that's pretty much there because it had to be there. Guess away :D

And even if you don't guess, review and tell me what you think XD I know I havn't used any ideas you've given me just yet, but I still have 19 stories to go!

(1) Anyone else do that? One year instead of cookies and milk, we started leaving an apple "for the reindeer". Looking back it might be been a hint that _Santa_ needed to watch his weight...XD


	4. Seto Baby

AN: Well, I kinda failed in the last one, but that's what I get for combining songs.

The song I was listening to (and the theme I was aiming for with Ryou at least) was "Where Are You Christmas".

But looking at it again, "I'll Have A Blue Christmas" and "I'll be Home For Christmas" as well as a few others might fit the theme too. Ah well, people seemed to like it.

There was also a tiny hint of "Silver Bells" ("Strings of street lights, even stop lights blink of bright red an' green". I mentioned the stop lights. XD Don't worry, I'll do another one that's more Silver Bells-ish XD)

Anyway, hope you guys like this one too. This one should be painfully obvious. :3

* * *

Seto sat in a large, throne-like chair dressed in a red velvet coat and pants, trimmed with faux white fur and a wide black leather belt with a gold buckle cinching the outfit to his waist. A matching, pointed hat topped with a white pompom on his head and black boots with gold buckles on his feet. A fake white beard and mustache with a small pair of glasses with fake lenses. The only thing wrong with his disguise was that he had refused to wear a fat suit ot any sort of padding.

If Mokuba hadn't been his beloved younger brother and only family, Seto would have killed him.

Still, he had agreed to play the part of Santa Claus for the gathering because it was for a good cause. And many orphans were excited to have a chance to ask the Christmas icon for gifts, which the CEO would see to acquiring for them and having them delivered to the orphanage by a more convincing Santa on Christmas Eve. Mokuba, dressed in green velvet elf outfit trimmed with red with pointed shoes, hat, and fake ear, held "Santa's List" and made sure to keep track of names and gifts.

As the festivities were winding down and the children were getting ready to leave, the CEO let out a sigh and cleared his throat a bit. "Alright, Mokuba. Can we go now?"

"We should-"

"Hey now," a familiar voice cut in, interrupting the younger Kaiba. "I think there's a few more _kids_ that want a chance to talk to you _Santa_." Mai appeared, smirking and folding his arms over her chest. Mokuba hid behind his clipboard.

"There are still some kids close by, Seto. We should play along," the younger brother whispered. Seto's scrowl was thankfully hidden behind his false facial hair and he resumed trying to sound like Santa Claus.

"Well then, come on up _little_ girl, come tell Santa what you want for Christmas. I _assume_ you've been good this year?"

"Oh, I have," she smirked. "And so have my friends." Seto groaned mentally as he saw a few of others approach. Jounouchi was the first one to bound up to him, plopping down his in lap and earning a death glare.

"I've been extra good this year, Santa," the blond said childishly, honey brown eyes wide and looking innocent. "I really need a new coat. It's so cold."

Seto glanced down at the ragged thing passing for a coat that barely covered the blond's torso. 'Puppy really does need a new coat...' he thought 'Maybe a fur coat...' the image of Jounouchi wearing a fur coat paired with puppy ears and a tail made him smile, which was thankfully hidden behind his Santa beard. "Santa can do that," Seto replied in a tone that didn't reveal his thoughts. "Now get off, mutt."

"Aw, your no fun," the blond tsked, hopping up and getting out of the way. Anzu skipped up next, settling in Seto's lap and putting an arm over his shoulders, blushing up at him, blue eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Oh Santa, I've been a very good girl this year. I would wait up for you if you would bring me a 20-10 (AN: as in the year ;) ) convertible. Light blue," she added, nosing him in the cheek "That would really make my Christmas Day."

Seto rolled his eyes. Anzu was one of two people who knew that the CEO was gay. He was the other. He patted her on the back, shooing her away. 'She hasn't told Jounouchi yet, so I suppose I could see about that.'

Before he could react, both Bakura and Marik came up, the blond straddling Seto's lap, the other leaning on his shoulder and holding up a list.

"We've been behaving ourselves. Do you have any idea of all the fun we've missed," the thief tsked.

"Think of all the people that we haven't "kissed"," Marik added, the dark look in his eyes implying that "kiss" could easily be replaced with a number of words. Such as "kill", "torture", or "harass".

"We could be just as good next year," Bakura said, inspecting his fingernails.

"Yeah, you just have to get us everything on this list," Marik grinned, taking the list from Bakura and tucking it in Seto's coat. The CEO's eye twitched.

"Get. Off."

The blond leered, sticking his long tongue out and almost licking Seto before complying and running off fir Bakura, who was laughing.

Mai sat down on Seto's lap next, tracing a finger on his chest. "I've been an angel all year, _Santa_ baby," she insisted with a smile. "All I want this year is a yacht."

Seto rolled his eyes and shooed her off. "Santa will see what he can do," he replied. 'Toy yacht.'

Malik came next, the Egyptian taking a seat and smiling up at Seto. "There's only one thing I need, Santa. Just get me the deed to a platinum mine and I'll be happy. Diamond mind would work too."

'Ha ha, you're so funny,' Seto thought as the blond scampered off.

Ryou sat in Seto lap and looked toward Bakura, the thief motioning for him to go ahead. The pale teen looked up at the CEO with his best puppy eyes. "_Santa_, could you just fill my stocking with checks? Just sign them, I'll do the rest."

Seto almost laughed outright, knowing that Ryou was asking because Bakura told him to. 'I think Ryou needs a leash for Christmas to keep that yami of his in _check_...'

Shizuka came next, smiling brightly. "Santa, can you come and trim my Christmas tree? We haven't had time to yet."

"That sounds like something Santa can do," Seto replied.

"Yay!" the girl giggled. "Oh, can you get the ornaments from Tiffany's?" she added.

'Don't push your luck.' "Santa will see what he can do."

Finally the last person approached, sitting in his lap and smiling at him with sparkling blue eyes, long white hair pulled back in a pony tail. "_Santa_, there's only one little thing that I want this year," she started. "A ring. And I don't mean on the phone," she cooed, holding up her left hand slightly.

'Oh boy...'

* * *

AN: Ta da! Can you guess this song? Cause I'm pretty sure it's obvious this time XD

And silly.

Also, I'm not opposed to Seto/Kisara at all.

I'm just a puppyshipping fan...:3 Please don't hate me!

And now I'm off to run some errands before working on _Hikari to Yami no Enishi_. Yay! :D


	5. I Saw Seto Kissing Santa Claus

AN: Yes. That last one was _Santa Baby_ :3

This is a short one, but the song itself is really short. I hope you enjoy it!

Not much else to say right now except I'm working on _HtYn Enishi_ and hope to have if finished by tomorrow. So much writing to do :3

I'm off to get ready for work. Enjoy the story!

* * *

Mokuba sighed, staring at the digital clock beside his bed. True he was thirteen this year and he knew that Santa Claus wasn't real(1), but trying to sleep on Christmas Eve always set butterflies loose in his stomach and made it hard to sleep. There was just something so magical of waking up in the morning and seeing the gifts under the tree that his brother had managed to hide from him alongside those that he had hidden from Seto (who was notoriously hard to buy for).

But it wasn't just gifts for the Kaiba brothers, but for the staff and their families as well as a few for friends who would visit later. To play up the Christmas spirit, especially for the staff members who had younger children coming, the presents were placed under the tree only at midnight, which was Santa's time of arrival in most Christmas tales.

Finally accepting of the fact that he wouldn't be getting any sleep, Mokuba slipped out of bed and decided to see if he could help put presents out, certain that at only fifteen minutes past midnight, whoever had been given the task of doing so couldn't possibly be finished.

Tiptoeing past Seto's room, the young teen made his way down the decorated stairway to the den, stopping only when he heard a soft sound coming from the room. He held his breath and listened for a moment, thinking he heard a moan and worried that whoever it was had hurt themselves. Visions of a poor servant crushed under a carefully wrapped big-screen TV or buried beneath assorted packages danced through his mind until he heard his brother's voice whispering.

Curious, Mokuba edged closer to the door, cracking it open and grateful that the hinges were well oiled. Storm-gray eyes widened as he saw the piles of presents spilling out from under the tree, a few carefully positioned to make it appear as though having fallen from Santa's pack as he traveled from the great fire place to the splendid tree. Squashing the giddiness at the sight, the teen began searching for his brother, finding him seated on the couch before the fireplace, a small fire dimly lighting the room. Beside him sat someone Mokuba hadn't expected: Santa Claus.

Just as in the stories, he was dressed in red and white, a bushy white beard covering the lower half of his face and black boots on his feet. His hat was pulled down so that the only visible portion of his face were his eyes. Mokuba couldn't see them from his vantage point as Santa and his brother were looking at each other and talking softly.

Before the stunned teen's eyes, his brother leaned in closer to Santa and kissed him, one hand resting on the man's chest. Santa seemed to be returning the gesture, one gloved hand caressing Seto's cheek.

Neither heard the door shut as Mokuba raced back to his room and grabbed his cell phone. It was just too wild a tale to not mention to others. He quickly selected a few people from his contacts and set the simple yet frantic message: "I just saw Seto kissing _**Santa Claus**_!"

Within moments he had received five replies.

Yugi: "What!? Are you sure?"

Honda: "Yeah right. You been into the eggnog, Mokie? XD"

Jounouchi: "Wow. Mokie, you didn't eat that fruitcake Anzu sent over did you? You're not supposed to eat that stuff!"

Ryou: "DO YOU HAVE ANY ****ING IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS!? WE'RE TRYING TO SLEEP! TEXT US AGAIN AND YOU'LL BE IN THE SHADOW REALM SO FAST YOU'RE HEAD WILL SPIN YOU ******* ****** *****"

Ryou: I'm so sorry. 'Kura grabbed the phone first. Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! D:

* * *

Meanwhile downstairs.

"I can't believe he saw us," _Santa_ sighed, looking at his cell phone.

"Whatever. At least you were still in costume," Seto shrugged, one arm draped over Santa's shoulders. He tugged the beard down and gave the man another kiss. "We should go back to my room so I can fix that."

_Santa_ gave a soft growl and kissed Seto fiercely, forgetting about the text message.

* * *

AN: I think this one should be pretty easy to get too. :D

(1) The opinions of our cast do not reflect the opinions of the author. :3

By the way: Who do you think was pretending to be Santa? :D I left it vague so you can fill-in-your-own-pairing :3


	6. Sleigh Ride in a Winter Wonderland

AN: The last story was indeed from "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" Ah the silliness.

Today's story is actually two songs rolled into one. And I feel it's a little weak, but hopefully it's cuteness and comedy will make up for it. Oh the pairings in this one. So many.

Also Rajan and Petri are in it(although Petri doesn't really have any lines)! Yay :D (I love my little OCs. They're so cute.)

It's not really cannon, but I feel like it might contain spoilers for the sequel to Hikari to Yami no Enishi. Only if you pay attention and squint a little, though. Either way, it won't spoil anything.

I just hope it's readable and makes sense :p

Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D

* * *

Ryou threw the curtains open, letting the pale winter sunlight into the dark bedroom, smiling at the frost and snow that trimmed the window.

"Come on, 'Kura, get up! We've got a lot to do today!"

The thief in question responded with an unintelligible grunt as he settled further under the mound of blankets on his bed.

"Rise and shine!" Ryou chirped, moving to sit on the edge of the bed on his knees and poking the Bakura-shaped lump under the blankets. He pouted when he didn't receive a response. "I know you hate the "cold white sand stuff", a-k-a _snow_. And I know you hate being cold, but it's not just your first Christmas. Atem and Marik are meeting us at the park too along with Kisara, Mahado, Rajan, and Petri. Do you think any of them are complaining about the cold?"

* * *

At the Ishtar house:

"Nooooo" Marik whined, clutching his blanket and fighting with Isis to keep himself covered. "Let Pharaoh and tombrobber go out and freeze there asses off. I'm cooooomfy!"

"Marik, come on," Isis sighed. "Everyone's waiting for you and-"

"I finally got Petri out of bed and dressed," Rajan said with a sigh as he entered the room. He moved over to Marik and stared him down. "Oi, don't give Isis any grief. Besides, Malik's downstairs waiting for you with breakfast." Marik glared at his brother, who merely reached out a hand and popped him on the back of the head. In a flash, the yami was on his feet and the pair were wrestling on the floor.

Isis sighed, leaving Rajan to deal with Marik so she could get herself ready to go.

* * *

At Yugi's house:

"I've been think-"

"No," Yugi cut off Atem, pulling on a white sweater and inspecting himself in the mirror.

"But-"

"No," the teen said again, fastening his thick leather collar around his neck He moved his fingers to his tri-colored hair and smoothed a few errant strands.

"Aibou-" Atem tried to plead, sitting on the edge of their shared bed in a thick, shin-length robe, his feet shoved into plush slippers. He eyed the layer of snow that covered their skylight.

"You'll be just fine, Atem," the teen sighed. "Besides, we promised the others we'd meet up with them at the park. Now hurry and get dressed before I do it for you." Yugi turned to face the former Pharaoh, hands resting on his hips. Atem pouted a bit but started to get dressed.

* * *

At the Kaiba mansion:

Seto sat in his home office, a mug of coffee in one hand while the other busily typed away on his laptop. Unlike the majority of his mansion, his office bore no traces of Christmas let alone winter. The only window was concealed by a heavy, burgundy curtain in order for the CEO to work in peace.

Outside his office door, Kisara and Mokuba pressed an ear to the door.

"Does it always do this?" the woman asked quietly.

"Yep. We need to convince him to come with us. It won't be easy though. When he gets like this, it's almost impossible to get him to stop working and have fun," the younger Kaiba explained.

"What would Jounouchi do?" she asked, flinching at the small glare Mokuba shot her(1).

"Well it was different for Jounouchi," he whispered. "We'll have to go in and-" the door suddenly flew open, the CEO staring down at the pair. Kisara smiled, batting eyelashes at Seto and trying to look adorable. Mokuba gave his brother a puppy-eyed look and pouted.

With a sigh of disgust, the CEO brushed past them. "I'll get ready."

* * *

Only an hour after the agreed upon time, everyone had finally made their way to the park. Yugi, Mokuba, and Ryou set about teaching Atem, Rajan, and Malik how to build snowmen. Marik quickly discovered the art of creating a snowball and got into a snow-fight with Bakura, Jounouchi, Honda, Petri, and Anzu. Kisara, much to Jounouchi's and Rajan's annoyance, sat on a bench beside Seto, snuggled against him to keep warm. Isis, Mahado, and Rishid had gone on a walk.

Yugi and Atem were putting the final touches on the snowman they had created together, the teen finding a nice round rock to act as the nose while Atem used a gloved-finger to flesh out facial details. They stood back and admired their work.

"Now that is a cool snowman...no pun intended," Yugi giggled.

"Aa. And he looks like a clown," Atem nodded. "That was fun, Aibou. Should we make another man of snow?"

Yugi laughed and hugged Atem, looking to see how the others were doing. "We could. It might be-"

"Get back here, psycho!" Bakura growled as an errant snowball landed at Yugi's feet.

"You'll never take me alive, tombrobber!" the blond yami cackled, darting past Yugi and Atem and trying to hide behind their snowman. Bakura appeared next, grinning wickedly as he tackled the helpless snow creature and earned a surprised yelp from Marik as he was half-buried in snow. As the blond jumped around, trying to the snow out of his hair and sweater, the thief stood back and laughed.

Yugi laughed as well, holding his sides and doubling over. Atem folded his arms over his chest and adopted an "I'm the Pharaoh" stance as he glared at Bakura.

"We just finished making that," he said coldly.

Bakura shrugged. "And I just knocked it over on the psycho's head. Your point?" His response came in the form of a snowball to the face. "Oh...it's on..."

* * *

Isis smiled as she sat in the back of a horse-drawn sleigh, taking in the sights of the winter wonderland Domino Park had become. Mahado sat beside her holding her hand as she leaned against him, his other arm wrapped around his shoulders. Rishid simply smiled knowingly as he enjoyed the ride.

"Rishid, are you sure you want to go back home alone to get set up?" Isis asked.

"It might be suspicious if all three of us suddenly left," Rishid replied. "Besides, everything is prepared, I just need to set out the decorations."

"If you're sure...I just hope he likes it..."

"He will, Isis," Mahado smiled. "Just being surrounded by his friends and family on this special day should be enough. And I don't believe he suspects a thing."

"Where did Marik hide the cake?" Isis asked, looking at Rishid.

"It's the large pan on the bottom shelf marked "for Rajan and Petri"," Rishid replied.

"The one that looks like evidence from a crime scene with all the blood stains?"

"Yes," the older Ishtar nodded. "Since they are the only ones who eat meat in our house, it seemed to be the perfect disguise."

"Ick. He was right. Even I didn't want to touch it," Isis muttered, making a face. Mahado smiled and gave her a small kiss.

* * *

After hours of playing in the snow, the teens and adults headed back to the Ishtar residence, the respective couples holding hands. Rajan and Jounouchi walked with their hands shoved into their pockets, each wishing they had someone to holds hands with. As they made their way up the walk, Marik pulled Malik back and hugged him tightly.

"I haven't told you happy birthday yet, hikari-mine," the yami purred.

Malik chuckled and settled into the embrace, enjoying the moment alone. "Thanks. No one has said it today, but I don't think anyone outside out family knows."

"Hey! Want me to tell them for you?" Marik asked with a grin.

"It's not a big deal," the teen replied, wrapping his arms around the yami's neck and kissing him soundly. "Besides, I have you. I have my family and friends with me. That's fine with me. I don't need anything special."

Marik pouted. "Aw, but I think you're special. You are, after all, _my_ hikari."

Malik rolled his eyes dramatically and lightly head-butted Marik. "Come on, everyone's already inside and I'm cold."

"Ok hikari!" the spiky blond chirped, stealing a kiss before racing for the door. As Malik approached, Marik rapped his knuckled against it three times, earning a confused look from the teen. Without explaining, he threw the door open.

"Happy birthday!"

Malik's jaw dropped as Marik ushered him into the decorated living room. "Guys...thank you," he said, smiling at everyone.

Cake and coffee were passed around after Malik blew out the candles on his Raa-shaped cake. The talked and laughed as the birthday boy opened presents, taking turns singing Christmas songs so that those celebrating the holiday for the first time could learn them.

Marik tried his hand at singing one as well, only to have Rajan and Isis correct him repeatedly.

"It's _Feliz Navidad_, Marik. If you're going to sing something in a different language-" Rajan huffed.

"My-lick-Kamehameha is the thing to say-" Marik continued to sing.

"No! No! You stop right there!" Rajan demanded. "It's _Mele Kalikimaka_. Do you have any idea what language that even is!? That's not even the same song you were singing!"

Isis covered her mouth with one hand, trying hard not to laugh. Malik leaned back against Ryou, shaking his head. "What a crazy, fun birthday this has been. My best one to date."

Atem smiled, reaching pasted Ryou to ruffle the blond's hair. "These are the times we remember all our lives." Yugi nodded as he snuggled against the former Pharaoh.

* * *

An: Annnnnd I think that's as far as I'm getting with this one. I could go on, but I choose not to.

And no Hikari to Yami no Enishi tonight because work sucked the life out of me. I'm working on it D: (no way it'll be done by Christmas real time, but I'll still try :p) Thursday I have off so I'll do lots of writing then :3

(1) This is the tiny spoiler. I won't explain it, but I think you can guess *hides*


	7. Bakura Is Not A Duck

AN: The last one was both _Winter Wonderland_ and _Sleigh Ride_

_In the meadow we can build a snowman_

_And pretend that he's a circus clown_

_We'll have lots of fun with mister snowman!_

_Until the other _**yamis**_ knock him doooown_

Tee hee

So another story and it's kinda short, but I think it's cute. Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Bakura growled and shook his hand, swearing at the clear, sticky strip that held fast to his fingers. "I hate Christmas."

"'Kura," Ryou tsked, taping down the last flap on the gift he was wrapping and reaching over to free his yami's fingers. "Christmas is the-"

"Don't you _dare_ quote one of your _stupid_ Christmas songs," the thief snapped, applying a final piece of tape to the gift he had been wrapping and setting it beside Ryou's. He glared at the teen's stifled giggle and grabbed another package. "Oh for- You bought something for _him!?_"

"Yami's my friend too," Ryou replied, rolling his eyes and taking the package from the irate thief. "Here, you can wrap Honda's, Scrooge."

"I am _not_ a _duck_," Bakura muttered.

"What?"

"You called me "Scrooge". That's the name of that stupid duck-person-thing," Bakura explained in disgust.

"It's also the name of a penny-pinching guy who hates Christmas," Ryou laughed.

"That's stupid. This whole Christmas-thing is stupid. I mean, what about that one song where the guy gives his "true love" a ton of worthless crap. The only good thing is the golden rings, but seriously, what the **** are you going to do with _forty two_ swans? What's so funny?"

"'Kura...all of his gifts are symbolic of..." Ryou shook his head and sighed. "I'll explain later." He finished wrapping the gift for Yami and set it with the others. "Let's get going before we're late for the party."

After nearly an hour of forcing Bakura into winter clothes, Ryou cheerfully pulled a large red and white felt bag from the hall closet and filled it with the wrapped presents. "Alright, let's go, 'Kura!"

"Meh," Bakura rolled his eyes, following after Ryou and mentally preparing himself for the "merciless" cold. He nearly slammed into his hikari after the door was opened. "What now?" he griped, looking past Ryou. He blinked, shocked to see that it seemed to be raining a strange, white substance that clung to everything.

"Ah man...when did it start to snow?" Ryou half-whined, setting his sack down and taking a few steps outside. "It's really coming down too..."

"I thought you said you _liked_ snow?" Bakura muttered, moving to stand beside Ryou on the porch and watching his breath mist away in the air before him.

"I do...I love it when it snows...But it's really coming down hard..."

"Hard!?" Bakura scoffed, holding a hand out and catching a few flakes.

Before Ryou could reply, his cell phone began playing a merry tune. He fumbled to grab the device and flipped it open. "Hey Yugi. Yeah, I see it..." He shivered a bit and hugged his arms close to him. "Oh, that's alright, I understand. No, we hadn't left yet." Bakura smirked, assuming that the party had been canceled. He slipped behind Ryou and wrapped his arms around the teen, waiting for him to finish talking. "Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow then. Tell Yami that 'Kura and I said "hi"-"

"Liar," Bakura snapped loud enough for Yugi to hear through the phone.

"Bye," Ryou laughed, hanging up the phone and leaning back against Bakura. "So now what? It's snowing and we have no place to go..."

"Che, let it snow," Bakura muttered, holding out his hand again, fascinated with the soft flakes, not that he would admit it.

Ryou smiled, his hands grabbing Bakura's arms. "I could make some popcorn and we could watch the Christmas movie with Scrooge in it."

"The duck?" Bakura asked.

"Sure, the duck," Ryou laughed.

"Fine. I'll go start a fire then," the thief smirked, releasing Ryou, who frowned at the loss of warmth. The teen spun around when he saw Bakura grab the bag of presents and rummage through it.

"What are- No!" Ryou squeaked, trying to grab the present Bakura had pulled out.

"What?" the thief teased, holding the gift out of reach and racing toward the fire place. "Pharaoh's present will make great kindling!"

* * *

AN: Two songs mentioned this time too! Any guesses? :D

So I'm behind schedule, but I have tomorrow off. I need to try and post 2-3 of these tomorrow. Expect short stories that might be considered drabbles. :p


	8. Yami Got Run Over By A Reindeer!

AN: Last story: _12 Days of Christmas_ and _Let It Snow_

I did the math. If you received all the gifts mentioned on each day of the song (ex: on the third day of Christmas you'd get three French Hens, 2 Turtle Doves, and a Partridge in a Pear tree to add to the gifts you got on the second day of Christmas (another 2 turtle doves and another PiaPT, etc), Then on day 12 you'd end up with:

12 Partridges in (a) Pear Tree(s)  
22 Turtle Doves  
30 French Hens  
36 Calling birds  
40 Golden Rings  
42 Geese a-Laying  
42 Swans a-Swimming  
40 Maids a-Milking  
36 Ladies Dancing  
30 Lords a-Leaping  
22 Pipers Piping  
12 Drummers Drumming

Now I know that's probably not what it means, but I thought it would be funny for Bakura to think that way because I'm silly. That's why he asked "what the **** are you going to do with _forty two_ swans?".

So enough of that silliness, this story is entirely too silly in my opinion. Maybe I'm bias...Enjoy! :D

* * *

The mid-morning sun peeked out through the clouds Christmas day, glistening on the fresh snowfall from the night before. Jounouchi, Honda, and Anzu had met up after opening presents at home to walk to the Kaiba mansion for a preplanned get together and Secret Santa gift exchange. Honda and Jounouchi hung on each other as they walked, laughing at the flustered Anzu.

"You really don't believe me, do you!" the girl fumed, hugging her Secret Santa gift to her chest.

"Oh," Jounouchi chuckled, releasing Honda and wiping a tear from his eye. "We _would_ believe you, Anzu," he assured her.

"If you were five," Honda added, both boys cracking up again.

"I know it's hard to believe, but I swear to you that I saw Santa on my roof last night!" Anzu insisted. "I saw seven reindeer quietly waiting for him as he was climbing into the chimney! Why would I lie!"

"An' I told you that if you're going to tell stories, you need to get your facts straight," the blond tsked. "Santa has _eight_ reindeer in all the stories, not _seven_. Well, nine if you count Rudolph."

"If I had made it home in time to catch him, I would have gotten a picture or something to prove it," she pouted. "And I know he's supposed to have eight reindeer, but I swear I saw seven. Maybe one was sick?"

"Whatever," Honda snickered, rolling his eyes. The trio stopped as they saw a swarm of police cars in from of the gate to the Kaiba mansion. "Whoa, wonder what happened..."

"Let's go!" Jounouchi cried, racing toward them. Three officers were crouched near a hole in the snow that looked as if a body had been lying in it, one of them snapping picture. A fourth officer was getting statements from a tearful Yugi, a solemn Sugoroku, and an irate Seto. When the short teen saw his friends, he ran toward them, attaching himself to Jounouchi's waist and sobbing into his friend's chest.

"Whoa, hey Yugi, what's wrong? What happened?" the blond asked, resting his hands on his friend's shoulders.

"Oh guys...guy it's terrible!" Yugi sniffled, red-rimmed eyes looking to each of them. "There was an accident last night after you guys left Kaiba's."

"Oh no! Was someone hit by a car!?" Anzu asked, looking toward the police nervously. She gasped, covering her mouth with a hand. "Where's Mokuba!?"

"He...he's inside, no it's...it's Yami!" Yugi wailed, burying his face against Jounouchi again.

"Yami! Oh man, what happened!" Honda demanded.

After taking a few deep breathes, Yugi took a step back from the blond, wiping his face on his sleeve. "Well...it was getting late and Kaiba invited me, Yami, and grandpa to just spend the night, right? But then he and Yami started talking and one thing led to another and then Kaiba challenged Yami to a duel. Nothing weird about that, right? But Yami had left his cards at home. Kaiba offered to let him build a deck from his stock of cards but you know Yami. He insisted on going home to get his deck."

"That's when he got hit by a car!?" Anzu gasped, but Yugi shook his head.

"No, listen. See, it had started snowing and grandpa and I begged him not to go, but he wouldn't listen to us and said he'd be right back. But...but he didn't come back! We thought that maybe he got home and decided to stay because the snow was getting heavy, but then this morning we found him outside and..." Yugi choked.

"My god, is he..." Jounouchi asked fearfully.

"He's at the hospital now in stable condition," Yugi assured his friends, trying to keep it together. "But he wasn't hit by a car. It looked more like he was run down by some kind of animal, like a deer or something."

"A deer? In Domino City? Really, Yugi," Honda rolled his eyes, but Jounouchi and Anzu exchanged a glance.

"It's true! It had a...a hoof print on his forehead and similar bruised on his chest and arms..." Yugi sniffled, jumping slightly when Sugoroku came and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"I know what did it," the old man stated, nodding wisely. "It wasn't an ordinary deer. There's only one creature in the world who could have left those marks. A _reindeer._"

"Oh come on, first Anzu is trying to convince us that she _saw_ Santa Claus on her roof last night and now you're trying to tell me that Yami got trampled on by a reindeer? Next you'll tell me it had to have been one of...Santa's..." the spike-haired brunette trailed off and looked at Anzu."

"I...I told you I only saw seven reindeer! One of them must have gotten loose!" she cried.

Sugoroku nodded, stroking his beard. "That sounds like the case. I told him he needed to fix that harness..."

All four teens stared at the old man in shock. Meanwhile, Seto eyed the group, having overheard their conversation. He grabbed the transmitter in the collar of his trench coat. "Mokuba, call my lawyers and have them meet me in Yami's hospital room. Have I got the case of a lifetime for them."

* * *

AN: *laughs at own story*

Another short story. I was going to hold off and post two at the same time today, but this just made me giggle too much. Even Michael, when I told him the idea last night, was like "OH MY GOD YES"

So I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I should think the songs are obvious, though I only heard one of them for the first time this year. (still think it's obvious :3)

If you are inspired to do so, someone should rewrite the song mentioned second to fit the story. I might just do it myself at the start of the next chapter XD Anyway, back to writing!


	9. T'was The Last Duel Of the Finals

AN: Here's a quick story I hope you will like

If you find it amusing, a review you should write!

....Ok, I'll stop. But I'm off to work. I might cut this down to "12 stories before Christmas" since I'm short on time and have a lot of hours at work right now. Plus that other Christmas special I want to write and HtYnE to work on.

I bit off more than I can chew...

Off to work! Enjoy!

* * *

Twas the last duel of the finals  
And all through the crowd  
Not a person was sitting  
And all were cheering quiet loud

The duel monsters were summoned,  
Magic and trap cards in play  
Each move geared to make  
The other's life points go 'way

The losers all stood by,  
Duel disks on their arms,  
Fueling the fighters  
With mantra like charms(1)

Yugi had his mages  
And I my white drakes  
We were dueling for glory,  
Watching out for mistakes

When up in the risers  
There arose such a cry  
We looked up from our duel  
To find out just why

The air seemed to buzz  
With excited vibration,  
Everyone held their breath  
In quiet anticipation

When what to my  
Stoic disbelief do I see?  
A sleigh pulled by reindeer,  
The crowd shouted in glee

At the little old driver,  
Speeding toward us real quick  
Somebody shouted  
"Look, it's St. Nick!"

He parked his bright sleigh  
In the midst of out duel,  
Then he handed out gifts  
Decorated for yule.

"For Otogi, now Ryou,  
Mai, Honda, Anzu,  
Yugi, and Mokuba,  
And Jounouchi too,"

More gifts he passed out  
To those on his list  
Then he turn to me  
His face dead serious

"You there, Seto,"  
He said with a smirk  
"Are on the fence  
For being a jerk  
But Santa does see  
Those times when you're kind.  
So I've come up with a plan  
To help you out of this bind"

With a wave of his hand,  
And a sparkling of snow  
Santa held up a duel disk  
"Let's duel, hohoho"

There's not much I can't buy  
I had no want for a toy  
But the gauntlet was thrown:  
A new opponent to destroy

So we started our dueling,  
I let Santa go first  
As he drew I shouted  
"Give me your worst!"

Then Santa smiled  
In a way that was tame  
"You can never beat me  
In this children's card game"

So we played all our cards  
Used our tricks and our skill  
The crowd was on edge  
Until the last kill

With the duel thus concluded  
Santa nodded his head  
Then he came close to me  
And with a smile he said

"That was fun! What a treat!  
What a wonderful match  
I have a gift for you, Seto.  
There's not even a catch."  
And he handed me a gift  
Before turning to go.  
He mounted his sleigh  
And flew off like a crow

He flew over the stadium  
And we heard him cry out  
"Merry Christmas to all!  
Now I'm back to my route!"

Seto watched as Santa flew off, trying to find a reasonable explanation for the events that had just occured.

"What'd Santa give you, Seto?" Mokuba asked.

The older Kaiba shook his head. "Hmn, nice special effects. He fooled everyone in the audience into believing. Almost had me going too," he smirked, looking down at the box in his hands. He opened it and made a face. "Rocks?"

"Ah! He gave you coal!? But..." Mokuba pouted and Seto glared up in the direction the sleigh had gone.

"So that's how it is, Mister Nicolas," the CEO tsked.

"There's a note!" Yugi said, actually approaching as Yugi rather than Yami, though the spirit hovered unseen beside his aibou.

Mokuba snatched it and read it aloud: "Merry Christmas, Seto Kaiba. Round Two is next year. Ho Ho Ho -Santa"

"Whatever. Come on, Yugi. We have a duel to settle," Seto stated, shuffling his deck.

* * *

AN: And you thought yesterday's story was silly...

Hope you enjoyed it! Rhyming is hard...

(1) There aren't a lot of words that rhyme with "arms" XD


	10. Seto Goes Home For Christmas

AN: Chapter 8 - "I Saw Santa On The Rooftop" and "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer"

Chapter 9- "T'was The Night Before Christmas"

As you can see, I have to cut down on the number. Now I'm just shooting for 12, though if I write more, I'll just change the title again.

I still have the other Christmas story to write and another chapter of HtYnE to finish. I also have a 6 day week at work (this is my only day off this week D:) and a lot of other stuff to do. And cookies to make! Oh the cookies I need to make for presents! (chocolate chip, peanut butter, sugar, date nut, and maybe snicker doodles if I have time).

Hope you enjoy this one. It's a bit less silly this time! Thank you for reading and reviewing! *puts out a box of Blue Eyes White Dragon plushies with Santa hats on*

* * *

Ryou carefully wrapped a framed photograph of himself in layers of bubble wrap and carefully packed it in the box atop a fleece blanket. Next he added a angel and a sprig of mistletoe before pouring in small S-shaped styrofoam pellets.

"What in Zorc's name are you doing now, yadonushi?" Bakura asked his host irritably as his translucent form appeared beside Ryou.

"Dad can't make it home for Christmas this year," Ryou stated, grabbing a bag full of fake snow.

"This surprises you because...?" the spirit queried. Of all the mortals he had sent to the shadows or trapped within game pieces, none deserved it more than the father of his host. For years he watched as Ryou had grown up virtually alone, his archaeologist father too busy poking around Egypt to come home more than once a year if that. True, he sent money and gifts to his son, but Ryou was far from materialistic. Even Bakura could see what the boy lacked for a loving family. It reminded him so much of his youth: growing up alone with no one to turn to for advice.

Well, at least Bakura gave Ryou advice, not that the boy listened to it.

"...I guess it doesn't..." Ryou admitted sadly, tossing in a handful of the glistening cellophane bits. "But...I really don't have anyone else to celebrate Christmas with so it always feels a little better at least when I send dad something. Usually it's cookies or something small, but this year I..." Ryou trailed off, his shoulders sagging. "Just...let me enjoy Christmas this year, alright? It's the first year I've actually had friends."

"That midget and his band of goody-two-shoes are hardly worthy of being your friends," the thief spat. "Yugi has the Millennium Puzzle, which I want, and also plays host to the spirit it houses. The time will come when I kill him, so don't get too attached."

"That's the problem...I want to be friends with Yugi, Honda, Anzu, and Jounouchi, but you won't let me. How is that even fair?" the teen asked, raising his voice a bit. Bakura raised a brow.

"Fair?" Ryou shrank back from the spirit, muttering apologies. With a sigh, Bakura rolled his eyes. "You're too weak, yadonushi." He was silent for a moment before folding his arms over his chest. "You can have your frivolous holiday, but the day after it's finished, I will expect your obedience."

Ryou looked up, startled. "You'll...I can celebrate with my friends?" the teen asked hopefully.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "You can do as you please."

"Until...until January second?"

"Don't push your luck, yadonushi," the thief growled. "I, in the mean time, will stay in the Ring until these festivities cease. Don't try anything funny, I _will_ be watch-" Bakura grunted as Ryou attached himself to his waist. He wanted to be annoyed with his host for touching him, but he found himself at a loss for words.

"For however much time I have, thank you, Bakura," Ryou said softly.

"Che, stupid yadonushi," the thief muttered, petting the teen's hair. Realization of what he was doing set in and he vanished into the Millennium Ring, Ryou losing balance and crashing to the floor.

With a smile, the teen was back on his feet. He finished sealing the package for his father and ran off to mail it as well as to buy presents for his friends.

* * *

_At the Kaiba mansion_

"Alright, let's see here," Jounouchi hummed to himself, looking over the table.

"I found a box, Jounouchi!" Mokuba called, rushing toward the blond.

"That's perfect, Mokie! Should hold everything."

"Yeah...I wish Seto could be home for Christmas though..." the raven haired teen sighed, seting the empty box on the table and starting to pad it.

"Me too," Jounouchi sighed, shaking his head. "Heh, listen to me, soundin' like a woman or something when I've only been dating Seto for two months."

"That shows you really care though, despite the stupid fights you still get in," Mokuba laughed.

"Well, it wouldn't be normal for us to not fight I guess," Jounouchi laughed. "Now then, we've got gingerbread cookies, some candy canes..." he started to pack the items in the box.

"Here's his stocking!" Mokuba chimed. "And I filled it with his favorite Christmas candies!" He packed it into the box as well.

"Well then, there's not much ass he'd want, is there?" Jounouchi asked.

"Oh! I almost forgot! The kitchen staff made him a fruitcake. It should be read to pack too! I'll get it!" Mokuba raced off to the kitchen.

"Yuck, fruitcake?" Jounouchi stuck out his tongue. Once he was certain that the younger teen was out of sight, he smiled and pulled a small, slightly crushed envelop from his back pocket. With a smirk, he grabbed a pen and scrawled on the back "Merry Christmas from your favorite fruitcake". "Gods, I've gotten so mushy in jus' two months," he chuckled, quickly tucking the envelope into the box.

* * *

_A few days later in New York, NY, USA_

"Mr. Kaiba, there's a package for you from Japan," the woman at the hotel desk called to him as he was leaving. The CEO came to the counter and lifted the box, a faint smile touching his lips for a moment before fading.

"Thank you," he muttered, continuing on his journey to the limo awaiting him outside. Once seated, he felt the smile gracing his lips once more as he cut open the packing tape and inspected the contents. Upon finding the envelope, he opened it as well, finding a Christmas card. He had never been fond of the idea of greeting cards, finding them a waste of time and money.

This was, however, the first one he had ever been the recipient of. After reading the personal note Jounouchi had written him, he immediately reached for his cell phone, his fingers stilling before he could dial the familiar numbers to call home. Grasping the limo's phone, he gave the driver a few instructions and made several other phone calls. By the time he arrived at his new destination, he had transferred the contents of the package into his briefcase and tucked the card into his trench coat.

* * *

_At the Kaiba mansion the next day_

"Thanks for coming guys. Christmas Eve just wouldn't have been the same without you," Jounouchi grinned at his friends. Mokuba had insisted on inviting Yugi, Honda, Anzu, and Ryou over to the mansion for a small get together and so they could exchange gifts and stories.

Unbeknownst to those in attendance, Yami and Bakura had even arranged a silent truce in light of the holiday season their hikari's valued to greatly. They floated near the Christmas tree, both questioning why having a tree cut down, set up indoors, and covering it with sparkley lights and decorations was part of the tradition.

"Thanks for inviting us," Yugi smiled.

"Man, how can Kaiba abandon you at Christmas time?" Honda griped, slouching back on the leather couch.

"Seto's really busy this year," Mokuba cut in. "The duel disk system is really popular and he has to make sure everything is running smoothly."

"Yeah," Jounouchi nodded. "I heard it's outselling the new game consoles that came out. If he could be home, he would be."

"Feh, I still don't see what you see in him Jounouchi," the spike-haired brunette grumbled.

"Love if funny sometimes," Ryou laughed softly, fingering the ring under his sweater thoughtfully. "Sometimes you just can't question why or who you love, you just have to enjoy it."

Bakura eyed the back of Ryou's head.

"And sometimes love just sort of falls into your lap, right?" Yugi added, cupping the Millennium Puzzle in his hands. Atem smiled, resisting the urge to hug the short teen from behind.

"Really, Pharaoh? Have you no restraint?" Bakura mocked the other spirit.

"Say what you will, but at least _I_ am not blind," Yami shrugged.

The thief hmphed and crossed his arms irritably. "Were it not for our truce and my promise to Ryou, you would be dead right now."

Yami shrugged, turning his gaze to the entrance of the den. "Did you hear that?"

"I can't hear anything over your obnoxious prat- oh, look," Bakura nodded his head toward the entrance.

Mokuba leapt off the couch, rushing toward the figure framed in the doorway. "Seto!"

The CEO set his briefcase down and caught his brother up in a hug. "Seem I made it home in time for Christmas," he sighed.

Jounouchi grabbed the brunette once he had released Mokuba, kissing him warmly despite Honda's groan of protest and Anzu and Yugi giggling. "Heh...caught ya," Jounouchi smirked. Seto looked up to see a sprig of mistletoe over his head. "Always wanted ta do that..."

* * *

AN: And there we go. Fear the cuteness! Fear the Christmas Special...ness...

Hope you enjoyed it!


	11. Yugi's Christmas

AN: Last Chapter: _I'm Sending You A Little Christmas_ and _I'll Be Home For Christmas_ (sort of XD)

And here's is Yugi's side of the story from Chapter 3. You may see a few songs in this one. :3

Hooray for puzzleshipping!

* * *

The Mutou living room seemed a deal smaller with the large Christmas tree occupying one corner of the room. Yugi stared at the large fir, wondering why his grandfather always insisted on getting a live tree every year, but this year especially the teen hadn't wanted to. He hadn't even helped with the decorating, finding it impossible to get excited for what was his favorite time of the year. He sighed as the red and green decorations, trying to feel that childish excitement that Christmas always brought him before, but instead he just felt hungry and a little cold.

"Why so blue, Yugi?" Sugoroku asked as he entered the room, carrying a tray ladened with two sandwiches, two mugs of cocoa, one with extra marshmallows for himself, and a bag of chips. The teen dragged himself into a sitting position to give his grandfather room to sit.

"You know why," Yugi sighed, taking his sandwich and trying to convince himself that he had an appetite. He could almost hear Yami in his head getting on him for not eating properly, which accounted for the weight he had lost in the past months.

Sugoroku nodded, concern flickering in his gaze as he looked over to his grandson. "Wherever he is now, I'm certain he misses you as well, Yugi. But he would also want you to be happy."

Yugi nodded, tearing off a small piece of crust and nibbling on it. "I actually tried writing a letter to Santa today...just to try and get in the spirit, you know? But...I don't want anything, jii-chan. And there's only one thing I need." He eyed the scant few gifts already under the tree from friends and his parents, who were both in America working.

"I see," the old man nodded, stroking his beard. "That's why you haven't put up your stocking then, hmm? What you want won't fit."

A brief image flickered in the teen's mind of a tiny Pharaoh poking his head out of his stocking and a faint smile touched his lips as he shook his head. He took a big bite of his sandwich before setting it aside and reaching for his cocoa.

"We were only together for a few years...but this is the first Christmas I haven't had Yami with me...It's strange, it just isn't feel the same without him..." Yugi closed his eyes, raising his mug to his lips. "It just doesn't feel like it used to..."

Sugoroku nodded thoughtfully, wishing for some way to comfort his grandson. "Why don't you go out with your friends?"

Yugi shrugged. "It's Christmas Eve. I doubt they can."

"You can ask," the older man pressed. With a sigh, the teen pushed himself up, carrying his cocoa with him and shuffling to the kitchen.

'They're going to say no,' he thought bleakly.

An hour after finishing his phone calls, Yugi found himself walking to the park, a pair of ice skates slung over his shoulder. He smiled and chatted happily with Jounouchi, Honda, Anzu, and Ryou about school and Duel Monsters when they met up, trying his best to make it seem that nothing was wrong. After some ice skating, he sat on a bench to just watch them having fun, wondering why he couldn't be like them.

'They all miss Yami too, I know they do...' He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice when Ryou joined him until his friend spoke.

"Anzu's quite good," Ryou commented.

"Yeah..." Yugi replied, blinking out of his thoughts. 'Maybe...' "Hey Ryou...Can I talk to you?" he asked looked up at the other teen.

"Sure, Yugi. What's wrong?" the paler teen asked.

Yugi sighed and started to take off his ice skates. "I know what we did all those months ago was the right thing...It's just that...I wonder if...if it would have been selfish of me to...lose."

"You miss Yami, don't you," Ryou guessed correctly. Yugi nodded, bowing his head.

"I just keep playing it over again and again in my mind. When he left...a part of me left with him, you know? I feel like...like he changed my world. My life. It doesn't feel right not having him here. Especially not now. It's Christmas. I know it is. But I just..."

"It doesn't feel like Christmas. I know..." Ryou finished for him, putting an arm over the shorter teen's shoulders and breathing a sigh.

"...You miss...Yami Bakura?" Yugi asked, a hint of disbelief in his tone.

"Is that what you called him?" The pale teen chuckled. "I do miss Bakura...Not that I miss him trying to kill you and the others," he added quickly. "It's just...since he's been gone, nothing feels right. I thought I would just get used to it. That this feeling would go away."

"It doesn't," Yugi whispered, squeezing his eyes shut. "The others don't get it. They miss Yami...Atem..." the short teen flinched slightly as spoke Yami's real name, the name they had struggled to find for him. "But they don't_ miss_ him."

Ryou smiled and hugged Yugi closer. "I get it, Yugi. We both get it. Thank god you do. I haven't had anyone who I could talk to about Bakura either."

"Yeah..." Yugi sniffled slightly, hugging Ryou back.

They talked for hours, the paler teen coming over to Yugi's for dinner so they could continue their conversing. As it got late, however, Ryou insisted on returning home. The shorter teen watched him leave, a little sad but still feeling as if some of the weight was off his shoulders. After his grandfather went to bed, he climbed out his skylight and sat on the roof for a little while, looking up at the stars.

"I shooting star," he breathed, seeing a light shoot across the sky. He closed his eyes and drew in a breath. "I wish Yami was back..." he whispered, opening his eyes again. "I can wish, hope, and pray all I want, but he's gone..." Tears slipped unchecked down his cheeks and he made his way back inside, shedding his clothes and pulling on his pajamas before slipping under the covers.

* * *

"Yugi!" Sugoroku called, knocking on his grandson's door. "Yugi! Time to wake up! It's Christmas morning!"

The teen grumbled and pulled his pillow over his head. Next he felt hands on his shoulder, shaking him gently.

"Oh come on now, my boy," the older Mutou insisted. "Rise and shine. There's Christmas breakfast to be eaten and presents to be opened."

"Don't care," came the muffled reply.

"You need to eat, Yugi. And I made all your favorites!" When this still failed to rouse the teen, Sugoroku sighed. "Alright then, you leave me no choice. I'll just have to sing Christmas Carols until you get out of-"

"I'm up!" Yugi cut him off,. removing the pillow and sitting up, rubbing his eyes.

"Aw, you don't like grandpa's singing?" Sugoroku asked, trying to sound wounded. "Come on, Yugi. I bet a nice hot breakfast will get you into the spirit!"

Yugi sighed, stepping into a pair of slippers as he got out of bed and shuffling after his grandfather. As they entered the kitchen, the teen glared up at a small sprig of mistletoe that hung above the entrance of the room. "Jii-chan, when did you hang mistletoe?"

"Hmm? I didn't," Sugoroku replied knowingly.

"There's only the two of us here," the younger Mutou pointed out, a few steps into the kitchen. "So who else-"

"That...would be me..." another voice interrupted, Yugi's eyes widening. The teen spun around, grabbing the counter for support. After a stunned moment of silence, the figure in the doorway smiled, pointing up at the previously offensive sprig. "I believe, Aibou, that tradition dictates an action is supposed to occur when one stands beneath this particular branch."

Yugi suddenly remembered to breath and ran the few steps to slam into Yami's chest, hugging him tightly and crying against his shoulder. Strong arms embraced him, rocking him slowly back and forth until the teen pulled back and smiled up at him.

"Yami..."

"Say my name, little one," the former Pharaoh insisted gently, bring his lips a breath apart from the teen's.

"Atem," Yugi complied, quickly closing the distance.

Sugoroku smiled, pleased that Yami's plan to surprise Yugi had worked out so well. "Nothing like a Christmas miracle to start the day," he hummed, setting the table.

* * *

AN: Sappiness! Oh god! Well, I hope you all liked it. A bit of puzzzleshipping goodness :3

Only one more story to go. Any suggestions? I'm thinking of going with a medley and making it spectacular.

Of course it might only be mediocre...But I'll try!

Still have to write the other Christmas story too and then get that chapter of HtYnE done. I have tomorrow off followed by Christmas Eve and, of course, Day. Which I'm happy about since my real name is "perfect for the season". Every customer that points it out makes me want to change my name tag to either my middle name of my pen name. Just saying...

Anyway, I'm off to run a few little errands and then go to work. I'll try to get something else up tomorrow!


	12. Chapter 12 part 1

AN: Last Chapter: _Blue Christmas_, _All I Want For Christmas Is You_, and...I swear there's another one in there...but I can't remember what it was. We'll say _I'll Be Home For Christmas_ and if I remember what it is later, I'll tell you :3

So this has become a two parter at least. Mainly because I'm at 7 pages and want to post something. Also I hope to have it all posted by Christmas day (and by all I mean the second part of this and the Christmas Story I started). So much to do, so little time...

And work sucks.

But I digress. I hope this isn't too confusing. It's set almost 10 years after the gang graduates from high school. Some of it may or may not be cannon to other stories I have in the works (wink wink).

And Judai and Sho are here from GX.

Without furthur ado...Enjoy! Thanks for reading and reviewing. (I feel like I chased off some readers at some point :p Might be my imagination)

* * *

_So this is Christmas.  
And what have you done?  
Another year over  
and a new one just begun._

_And so this is Christmas.  
I hope you have fun,  
the near and the dear ones,  
the old and the young.  
A very merry Christmas  
and a happy new year.  
Let's hope it's a good one  
without any fear._

-_Happy Christmas (War Is Over) by John Lennon_

"Jounouchi!" Malik shouted across the crowded café. The blond smiled brightly and made his way to the large table in the back where the others sat. Malik scooted closer to Marik to make room for him. Beside Marik sat Petri followed by Rajan, Bakura, Ryou, and Atem.

"Hey guys! Where's Yugi?" Jounouchi asked, taking his seat in the booth.

"He's stuck at the shop," Atem replied. "He said he would meet us at the mansion later."

"We're still missing Honda, Otogi, and Anzu," Ryou pointed out.

"I think we need a bigger table," Petri laughed.

"You say that every year, and every year we end up here," Marik smirked, ruffling his younger brother's hair playfully.

"Hey, at least Isis, Rishid, and Mahado always make other plans," Malik added. "Plus their little ones. Speaking of, where are Ira and Judai at Ryou?"

"Judai's probably caught up with Sho," Jounouchi laughed.

"Why do you guys always act like Judai's our son?" Ryou asked, blushing brightly as Bakura cackled.

"Because Bakura's practically adopted him," Rajan snickered. "I actually have heard him refer to himself as the "Thief Prince" before."

"That's my boy," the former tombrobber laughed. "Ah, he'll be here soon. And Ira was too much of a handful this year. Ryou's old man's in town and offered to baby sit."

"He's four this year, correct?" Atem asked. Ryou nodded.

"Hard to believe we've had him for almost three years now," the pale hikari sighed, leaning against Bakura.

"Yugi and I have been thinking about adopting a child as well," the former Pharaoh smiled.

"Oh, you need to get on a list," Ryou exclaimed. "There's a lot of red tape, especially for gay couples." He smacked Bakura's hand before the thief could go into his rant on that particular subject.

"Anyway, we're not here to discuss the little ones," Malik cut in, hoping to help deter Bakura's impending rage.

"Even tough Dragon-nephew and the terror twins are the cutest," Marik added.

"Dragon nephew," Rajan chuckled at Marik's nickname for his son.

"Stop calling Isis' kids the "terror twins"," Malik snapped at his yami. "Think of better nicknames for them- ANYway, we're here to talk about what _we've_ been doing this year. Since Yugi's not here, I appoint Ryou to be in charge of this annual gathering."

Ryou huffed a bit and stood up the best he could. "Fine." He cleared his throat. "Welcome almost-everyone to our 9th annual..." he blushed, realizing that he couldn't remember what Yugi called their get together. "um... Pre-Christmas Coffee Talk...thing. I guess since everyone else is running late-"

"Hold up!" Honda's voice called out. They looked to see the spike-haired brunette making his way to their table, Anzu and Otogi in tow. After some shuffling and confiscating two chairs from a neighboring table, Ryou stood again.

"Ok...so since-"

"We're here too!" Judai called out, appearing seemingly from nowhere beside Honda and startling everyone save Bakura. A short, shier looking man stood beside him, their fingers laced together.

"We really do need a bigger table," the pale hikari sighed. Soon everyone was finally situated and Ryou stood once more, eyes darting around the café. "Ok, are we all here? Yes? Good. Ok, um...Welcome to our 9th annual coffee-talk-Christmas thing. Yugi's stuck at work so let's get the ball rolling, shall we? So, who wants to go first?"

"Well, I've got a story," Jounouchi started. "Actually, it happened just a few days ago. Just...don't tell Seto about it."

"Ooo, what happened?" Anzu asked, leaning forward anxiously.

"Well...you guys remember Mai, right? I ran into her at the store." The blond felt his cheeks burn a bit.

"Oh man, what happened?" Honda pressed.

* * *

Jounouchi smiled as he dropped two containers of ice cream into his shopping basket and let the glass door while he thought about what else he needed. As he turned around, he froze as he spotted a familiar head of blond curls down the aisle. He silently approached her from behind and lightly touched her sleeve.

Startled, the woman spun around, blinking at him for a moment before she gasped, a hand moving to cover her mouth.

"Katsuya!" she cried, moving to hug him, his purse slipping out of her grasp and slipping it's contents on the white linoleum floor. For a few seconds, the pair started at the mess but then both started to laugh.

Once they had gathered everything back into her purse, Jounouchi smiled and hugged her warmly. "God, Mai, it's been years," he breathed.

"I know!" Mai exclaimed, returning the embrace. They chatted as they made their way to the check out, reminiscing about the last time they had seen each other. They paid for their groceries and headed out into the gently falling snow.

"We need to catch up," Mai insisted. "Did you walk or drive?"

"Er, well..._I_ didn't drive, but I can call the limo," Jounouchi said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Ah, the hard life of being tied to Seto Kaiba," Mai sighed over dramatically, winking at the other blond. "Forget the limo, my car's right over here. Let's get out of this snow."

"Kay," Jounouchi grinned childishly. They moved their conversing to Mai's car, the older duelist digging a six pack of beer from one of her bags. She handed him a bottle and tapped another one against it, smiling.

"Here's to memories, huh?"

"To innocence and time," Jounouchi nodded, opening his bottle and taking drink. By the time they had each gotten half way through their second bottle, he had brought her up-to-date on the events that had occurred since they had parted ways. "What about you? I saw that ring on your finger."

"Yeah...I got married. Nice guy. He's an architect...Good house, a good life..." She shook her head and Jounouchi got in impression that she wasn't happy, but didn't press it. "What about you, "Mr. Katsuya Kaiba"?" she teased.

"Heh, no one calls me that," the blond smirked. "We're together, but we don't' see a need to get married, you know?"

"At least you know you can if you ever change your mind," Mai smiled. "In the states it's still such a touchy subject."

"I heard," he nodded, tipping his head back and draining his bottle.

"Still, you seem like you're doing well," Mai nodded, opening her third bottle. "Limo on call and living in a mansion."

"Yeah...it's nice...Not just because of the money or anything though. Seto and Mokuba are my life. My family." He paused as he raised his third bottle to his lips. "The media's hell though."

"I imagine," she sighed, looking out her window thoughtfully. They finished the beer off in silence, neither sure what else to say after talking for over an hour. "I...We should probably be heading back to are respective lives then," she said quietly. "My husband and I are staying in town for a few more days before we head back to the states...It's been...nice seeing you again, Jou."

"Yeah...Hey, you need to keep in touch, Mai," Jounouchi insisted, digging though his pockets until he found a business card. He pressed it into her hand, honey-brown meeting violet for a moment. "You know...if I didn't know better, I'd think you hadn't aged a day since we last saw each other."

"You always were a flatterer, Katsuya Jounouchi," Mai sighed, eyes shimmering slightly in the pale light. She closed the distance between them and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. "I promise I'll email you my information tonight from the hotel. Let's really try to keep in touch this time."

"Yeah..." Jounouchi nodded, grabbing his bag of half-melted ice cream and stepping out of the car. He hardly noticed the snow as he watched Mai start her car and drive off, sighing heavily and feeling an old pain in his chest. As he dug out his cell phone to call the limo driver, he looked up to see the snow was turning into rain.

* * *

"So you guys kissed," Otogi shrugged. "You know in some countries, a kiss is a handshake."

"Yeah..." Jounouchi shook his head. "But guys, Seto'd freak if he found out...I mean, me and Mai were-"

"You _were_," Ryou cut him off. "And Kaiba knows you guys dated once before, right?"

"Well, yeah."

"We won't tell him if that is your wish," Atem assured his friend. Ryou gave Bakura's ear a sharp tug when the thief tried to counter that statement. "But perhaps you should tell him."

"Meh...I'll think about it," Jounouchi sighed, slumping in his seat.

"Man, I wondered what'd happened to Mai Kujaku," Judai said, leaning back in his seat. "One of the top ranked duelists in the world and one day she just fell off the map."

"That happens, Aniki-chan," Sho replied. "Lots of duelists leave the tournament circuit after they settle down."

"Not me," Judai grinned.

"Because you're both duelists," Petri pointed out.

"Alright, getting back on track here," Ryou said, standing up again. "How does Yugi do this?"

"There is a bit more room on this side of the table," Atem replied.

"Oh. Well, who wants-" Ryou started to ask when a loud, screeching voice interrupted him.

"What in the name of Thoth is that child screaming about?" Rajan asked, raising a brow.

"I think she's saying "I want"..." Jounouchi said.

"Whatever she's going on about, she's abusing her mother," Atem scrowled.

""I want a bunny"?" Jounouchi tried again to decipher the child's screeching.

"If I acted like that, my dad would have dragged me outside and given me something to _really_ cry about," Ryou frowned.

"All that screaming over a...Oh come on, she's just going to stand their and let her child _bite_ her!? In public!?" Rajan scoffed. "Bakura, come with me," the crimson-eyed blond said, slipping under the table and crawling to the other side. Bakura opted to go over the table, meeting Rajan at the other side.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Anzu asked.

"Just going to help her out," Rajan smiled innocently.

"And I'm just going because it's going to be _fun_," Bakura grinned not-so-innocently.

"Don't do anything reckless," Malik called after them.

"Oh brother-in-law," Rajan chuckled. "I won't do anything that working for Kaiba won't get me out of."

"That's what worries me," Malik sighed, covering his face with his palm.

"Hey, where is Kaiba anyway?" Honda asked. "He skipping out this year?"

"Today's the only day Seto has to Christmas shop," Jounouchi explained. "It's the one time he actually goes out shopping in person."

* * *

'Another line,' Seto thought darkly. Part of him was tempted to just use his affluence to bypass that crowd, pay for his items, and be on his way home. 'At least this is the last stop.'

In line ahead of him was a young boy wearing dirty, worn clothes who looked in need of a bath or three to get entirely clean. Seto couldn't help but look around to see where the boy's parents were, seeing that the youngster was carrying pair of high heeled shoes in his hand.

Finally, the little boy reached the counter and handed the small purchase to the cashier. "Sir, I want to buy these shoes for my mama please. They're just her size," he insisted.

"Alright little boy," the cashier smiled. Seto could tell that this was the first time the man had genuinely smiled since the CEO had entered the store, reasoning that he was merely exasperated from working this time of year. "Let's see, your total is 3290 yen (calm down, that's only $30.78)."

The boy pulled a bag of coins out of one pocket and spilled the contents onto the counter. The cashier's happiness quickly became the feigned smile that said "kid, you may be cute, but you just pissed on my cheerios(1)" as he helped the boy count out the coins. Behind Seto, other customers were starting to get frustrated and whine about how much they had to do and such. The CEO, on the other hand, watched silently, some small part of him holding it's breath and wondering if the boy had enough. The rest of him shot an angry, icy glare to the people behind him, silencing their sniveling.

"I'm sorry, you only have 1905 yen," the cashier sighed, torn between shooing the kid off and moving on to the next, rather intimidating looking customer and digging into his own pocket, though he knew he himself couldn't afford to do the latter.

The boy seemed shocked that he didn't have enough and looked up at the cashier helplessly. "But...I have to buy these shoes! My mom needs them...and really soon too. My dad said she's going to meet Jesus(2) soon and I want her to look good!"

"I'm sorry," the cashier said, voiding out the boy's purchase with a hint of sadness in his eyes. He set the shoes aside to put them back on the shelf later and began to scoop the assorted coins back into the boy's baggy.

Sulking, the boy looked up at the shoes before noticing Seto for the first time. "I don't know what to do...I need to buy those shoes for my mom...What do I do?" he asked pitifully.

"Hnn," Seto shook his head, reaching down and ruffling the boy's dirty hair before stepping up the the counter. "Add them to my purchase," he stated, snatching the bag of coins from the clerk. Once they were rung up, he dropped the bag into one of the shoes and handed them to the boy, who beamed up at him.

"Th-thank you! Thank you so much!" she cried happily before running off.

Seto smiled as he gathered up his purchases and left the store.

* * *

"So..." Ryou sighed as the group moved outside to join Rajan and Bakura. "Kicked out again."

"Hey, we got the kid to stop sniveling," Bakura retorted.

"This is the fifth time we've had to leave because of you, 'Kura," the pale hikari pouted.

"But we did them a favor this time," Rajan said defensively. "And that child may think twice before repeating that behavior."

"Well, I guess we're heading over to the mansion then," Ryou sighed, grabbing Bakura's hand as if it would prevent his yami from causing any more trouble.

"Well, while we're on the way, why don't you tell us what's in that bag you're carrying," Malik said slyly, eying the small duffel bag slung over Ryou's shoulder.

* * *

AN: End of part one.

I hope it's not too confusing.

This chapter covered Seto and Jou. Hopefully planning on the next on to cover everyone else, though I only have one more song in mind. I'll try to come up with something else though and get it posted by Wednesday. As well as the Christmas Story.

Christmas Day or the day after, I'll work on Hikari to Yami no Enishi some more :3

(1) That term "pissed on (insert pronoun here)'s cheerios" amuses me. :p

(2) So I don't know how wide spread Catholicism is in Japan. Just go with it :p

Also, the screaming child thing did happen. While I was at work.

OMG I wanted to do something to that child. And she really was hitting and biting her mom. For like 10 minutes. Seriously? My parents would have dragged my butt outside and beat the snot out of me.

They never had to, but they would have let it go on for 1 minutes let alone 10.

Now to write more stuff before work!


	13. Chapter 12 part 2

AN: Last time: _Same Old Lang Syne_ and _Christmas Shoes_

Also, Chapter 11: The song I forgot: _Christmas Wish_

Ok, so this is the last Christmas song inspired story for 2009 (from me anyway :p). I still have one Christmas story left to finish, but I also have cookies to bake for tomorrow.

Enjoy! And thanks for reading and reviewing!

* * *

"I can't wait to get home," Mokuba sighed as he helped the chauffeur pile luggage in the trunk.

"Your brother and Jounouchi will be surprised to see you," the driver smiled. "And they don't know?"

"The only one who knows I made it home for Christmas is Rajan," Mokuba laughed. "But even he doesn't know I didn't come back alone."

"Are you really sure this is alright?" a blond woman asked, fidgeting a bit.

"Yeah it's fine, Becky," Mokuba assured her. "I'm just glad you were able to come along." With the last bag in place, he sighed and looked up at the sky. "Nothing beats coming home for the holidays..."

* * *

"Ha! I knew it! Cookies!" Marik crowed triumphantly, trying to steal the duffel bag from Ryou.

"You can have some at the party," the pale hikari cried, clinging to the bag protectively. "Now let go before you break them!"

"Brrr, I'm chilly," Malik said, over dramatically rubbing his arms. Marik looked between the bag and his hikari, pouting a bit before relenting in favor of tackling Malik to help him keep warm.

"Thanks Malik," Ryou chimed, hugging his bag close.

"Anytime," the blond hikari grinned, snuggling into Marik's embrace.

"It's hard enough to protect them from a certain kleptomaniac when I'm baking them," Ryou stated, glaring at Bakura.

* * *

Bakura happily munched on a sugar cookie he had swiped from the kitchen when Ryou hadn't been looking. He looked over the rest of his haul, debating whether he wanted to eat a bell- or a star-shaped cookie next.

"'Kura!" Ryou yelled. The thief grinned and looked at the irate hikari, the lower-half of a Santa-shaped cookie hanged out of his mouth. Ryou sighed in disgust and frustration, turning back to the kitchen. "Stop that! I'm trying to make enough for the party!"

Bakura swallowed a bite of cookie. "I know, I'm just getting my share now."

"You're hopeless! One day you're going to get so big and roly poly you won't fit through the door!" Ryou stopped in the door way. "**Dad!**"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry, son," Ryou's father said, guiltily holding a half-eaten cookie. In his other arm he held little Ira, who giggle at his adoptive father as he held a cookie between his hands.

"Out!" Ryou demanded. "All of you stay out of my kitchen until I'm done! What is wrong with you!" he fussed.

"It's your own fault for making them taste so good!" Bakura retorted, offering Ryou's father a cookie from his stash when the man sat beside him.

"Ooo, this one has sprinkles!"

"RAAAAWR!" Ryou growled from the kitchen, working on making another batch of cookie dough.

* * *

"That's terrible," Atem sympathized.

"Psh, don't let him fool you into thinking he hates it," Bakura rolled his eyes, wrapping an arm around his hikari's waist. "See, the best part about-"

"Shut up!" Ryou demanded, a slight blush coloring his cheeks.

"-is that each batch-" Bakura continued.

"Stop! Shut up!" the pale hikari whined, trying to punch the thief in the chest for all the good it would do.

"-takes fifteen minutes to bake and that leaves time between-"

"'Kura!" Ryou squeaked, his face red as a stop sign.

"-for making out, among other things," Bakura finished, grinning down at Ryou.

"Oooo, hikari, you need to start baking cookies," Marik said, squeezing Malik.

"You might actually make out less often if he does," Rajan commented, earning snickers from the rest of the group and a half-hearted glare from a red-faced Malik.

* * *

Seto had just finished wrapping his last gift when he heard voices drifting upstairs. He pressed a bow on top of the gift and place it with the others before going to join the others.

"Kicked out again?" he asked, not surprised to find the group settling in his den.

"It's a Christmas tradition," Petri grinned in response.

"Shut it, shrimp," Bakura tsked, planting on foot on the edge of the coffee table and draping his arms along the back of the couch.

Ryou rolled his eyes and pulled out the box full of sugar cookies he had made, quickly setting them on the coffee table away from his yami's foot and retreating to the couch to pin the thief down. "No more cookies for you."

"That's fine. You can just make me some when we get home," the thief smirked, leering at him.

Seto strolled behind the couch on his way to his DVD collection, taking a magazine with him to bap Bakura on the head. "Remember the rules, thief," he tsked.

"My hands are as far away from Ryou as possible," Bakura growled.

"That hasn't stopped you before," Yugi said from the entrace to the den.

"Aibou," Atem smiled, patting the seat beside him. Yugi quickly snatched a cookie and said his hellos before taking his seat and snuggling against the former Pharaoh.

"Hands above the waist, Atem," Seto snapped just as Atem's hand hand moved to rest on Yugi's hip. With a sigh, he settled for his lover's waist.

"So, what are we watching this year?" Petri asked, watching the CEO's finger trace over the various cases. "What about the one with the puppets?"

"We watched that last year," Marik whined, squirming as he sat on his hands, he and Malik separated by Judai and Sho, the latter feeding his lover a cookie.

"I'll be right back," Rajan smiled, getting up and slipping out of the room.

"Bring that egg-drink-stuff!" Marik called after him.

"Can't you just call it "egg nog" like everyone else?" Bakura snapped. Marik answered by blinking at him.

"You know he can't," Malik chuckled.

"Oi, Seto, hurry and pick a movie before New Years, would ya?" Jounouchi called teasingly.

"Quiet or I'll put on "Black Christmas"," Seto threatened, finally picking a movie and closing the cabinet.

"That sounds like my kind of movie," Bakura grinned. "Better than these namby-pamby flicks." He laughed when Ryou smacked him on the chest.

"Just for that, we're watching the Rudolph movie," Seto announced, getting the DVD set up.

"My favorite movie!" Rebbecca chimed, clasping her hands together. All eyes were drawn to the doorway.

"Mokie!" Jounouchi cried, hopping up and rushing to hug his brother-in-law.

"And Rebbecca Hopkins?" Yugi questioned, blinking at the familiar face.

"Hello Darling!" Rebbecca chimed, scampering toward her former crush and pecking him on the cheek. "It's been forever, Yugi!"

"I-it has," the hikari stammered, snuggling shyly against Atem.

"Mokuba," Seto smiled, pushing in the DVD tray and going to hug his brother.

"You said you couldn't make it!" Jounouchi accused.

"If he told you he was coming, it wouldn't have been a surprise," Rajan smiled, wheeling in a small cart ladened with glasses and egg nog.

"And I'm certain you had nothing to to with this surprise?" the CEO quirked a brow at his employee, who merely smiled innocently.

"I didn't want to come if Becky couldn't come with me," Mokuba admitted, getting free of Seto and Jounouchi to hug Rebbecca from behind.

"Well, I guess introductions first and then the movie," Jounouchi nodded, introducing Rebbecca to those she hadn't met before.

"Another person added to our group," Yugi smiled.

"Well, the kids will be joining us eventually too," Ryou pointed out. "And next year Isis, Mahado, Rishid, Mana, and Kisara will hopefully join us."

"Aside from Kisara, I think the others like having a less-crowded Christmas," Atem chuckled.

"How is Kisara, Rajan?" Yugi asked.

"She's fine. It's our little one who has a cold," Rajan explained. "But she insisted that I come so I can fill her in on what everyone's been up to."

"I'll have to stop by tomorrow with cookies then," Ryou nodded, smacking Bakura for the wicked grin on his face.

"I'll come too!" Yugi smiled.

"You can all come over," Rajan laughed. "Why don't you come over around one and we'll have lunch."

"If you're all finished with your chatter," Seto huffed, grabbing the DVD remote. "Let's get this over with. Some of us still have to work on Christmas."

* * *

AN: There. I'm calling this done. I hope you enjoyed it and have a Merry Christmas :3

Also, I will get the Christmas story done by tomorrow. Some how.

Sorry if you found these little stories too silly. We'll return to your regularly(ish) scheduled Hikari to Yami no Game soon, I promise! :3


End file.
